6 Way Perception
by YikoMeansMoonlight
Summary: The title says it all: six views of the main characters - Gene, Pepper, Tony, Rhodey, Whitney, and Happy. I decided to leave Rick out because he's only in one episode, but I'm planning on making some one-shots/short stories with him in them. Again please read and review!
1. Gene: Reminising

Gene pounded the wall with sudden frustration and sadness, he suddenly stopped, hoping that he hadn't waken any of the Tong. Tears silently streaked down his face as his brain seemed to walk backward. He quickly swiped them away. All his life he had wanted this, to be the Mandarin. But…he wasn't finding the rings, and he had betrayed the only friends he had. Pepper. That name sounded so sweet in his head. Some times he had called her Salt or even Vanilla to make her laugh. Now he REALLY felt like crying, but he was Gene Kahn. He never cried.


	2. Pepper: Grocery Shopping

Pepper pushed the grocery cart along. She didn't want this to take forever. She pulled a few items down from the shelves as she tried to remember what her father had wrote down on the list. She had lost the paper on her way to the store; the sky had just started falling recently, the weather always seemed to reflect her mood. She saw a mother and daughter walking together, the little girl was crying quietly as her mother trudged the cart through the store trying to comfort the little girl and do the shopping at the same time. Pepper walked over to the toddler, reached into her small blue purse and handed the little girl a Dum Dum. She smiled warmly as the little girl's crying suddenly ceased and she giggled softly at the unexpected present.

"Thank you." the girl's mother said with a relieved and thankful smile.

"My pleasure." Pepper waved as they walked away to continue their shopping.

She resumed her quiet errand. A young couple about her age seated on a bench were grinning at each other as the boy's arm curled around the girl's shoulders. She wasn't really shocked when she realized it was Whitney and Tony. Pepper fought back tears as the lady rang up her items at the check-up counter. She knew she wasn't ready for a romance just yet, but she felt like it was something she would enjoy. She tried her best to stay away from those thoughts though. She had liked Tony, he began dating Whitney. She had a huge crush on Gene, he stabbed her in the back. "No…" she thought to herself. "Don't' think about it."

It brought back horrible dream shattering memories. Love wasn't for her.


	3. Tony and Rhodey: A Problem

Tony winced as sparks flew up into his face.

"Where's your mask?" Rhodey asked.

"I couldn't find it." Tony replied.

"Then why don't you stop making armor and study for that History test tomorrow?" Rhodey laughed.

"Stane and Hammer have my Armor specs, I have to be prepared for anything." Tony said, his voice filled with worry.

Rhodey studied his face, "You haven't been sleeping, have you?"

Tony remained silent.

"Dude, you need your sleep," Rhodey scolded, "Give Team IronMan a rest."

Tony sighed, "I can't, without me the crime level in the city could increase by 50%."

"You got that statistic from Pepper, didn't you?" he chuckled.

"And if I did?" Tony asked like a juvenile child.

"Listen dude." Rhodey came back to their previous topic. "SLEEP."

Tony sighed. Rhodey was right. All he could think about was how Obadiah Stane and Justin Hammer had his Armor blueprints. He was so tired he felt like he'd been carrying around tons of metal for days now, and all he could remember was some of Pepper's statistics she had been spouting a few days earlier.

He gave in, "Fine. I'll take a nap-" he started.

"An eight hour nap." Rhodey joked.

"Fine." Tony pouted. He began to walk off when Rhodey remembered something.

"Oh! Tony," Rhodey called, "How's Whitney doing?"

"Whitney?" Tony asked warily.


	4. Whitney: A Close Friend

She sat on her bed. This was the third date he'd blown off so far. She knew what would happen next. She'd get a long call from Tony making excuses, telling her sorry a million times, then she would forgive him. They'd set up another date only for it to get snatched away by…whatever Tony felt was more important than spending time with her. A sigh escaped her lips. She liked Tony but he was never there for her, I mean what kind of relationship is that? She wondered "Who HAS always been there for me? A sweet boy, who's responsible, funny, smart…never forgets to show up for dates." she thought grumpily. "Not Happy…Tony? Nope." she thought with another annoyed tone. Gene was always way too stiff for her…he wasn't very attractive anyway. She only had one other close male friend. Rhodey?" she said to herself quietly; surprised his name had even entered her thoughts. "Psh! No!" she chuckled to herself. How could she ever think Rhodey would take an interest in her? How_** silly**_ of her.


	5. Happy: A Wonderful Life

Happy Hogan smiled at a long strip of pictures from a photo booth that him and Pepper had come across after their movie date. He was smiling particularly at this one where Pepper had kissed him on the cheek. He was blushing in the picture and he looked bulky like always, but he remembered how she had smiled and blushed right after it too. Wow. His first girlfriend. It was unexpected how they came to date. He remembered walking down the hallway, basketball in hand, confident smirk pasted on his face; the usual. Tony's voice reverberated off the corridor walls, "Me and Whitney are going out tonight." he had said casually. He was just rounding the corner when he heard Pepper retort, "Well…I have a date too!" she bluffed.

"Oh really?" Tony asked teasingly, "Who?"

"Umm.." Pepper searched for a boy to pretend they were dating.

He recalled how she had hastily grabbed his muscular arm and pulled him down so their faces would be level.

"Happy Hogan!" she replied cheerfully.

"What?" Happy had said rather cluelessly, "We are?"

Tony, Whitney and Rhodey burst in a fit of laughter.

Pepper pouted.

"So what are we doing?" Happy asked pleasantly shocked he had a date.

Pepper sighed, not wanting to break her word. "Umm…just meet me at Katy's Diner at seven, okay?"

Everybody immediately stopped laughing.

"Wait; you're serious?" Tony asked incredulously.

"Yes. I am." Pepper said with a scowl.

"See you at seven, Peps." Happy smiled.


	6. Gene: Painting

Hi guys! I'm sorry that these chapters aren't very long, but I'll try harder to make them longer soon.

He was painting. As the strokes hit the canvas delicately, yet effectively he began to hum. Howard Stark smiled.

"So even villains can love." he said to Gene.

Gene swerved around to show a face contorted in anger.

"What would you know Stark?" his voice cracked.

"I know _**you**_, Gene," Howard stated simply, "You're not fit to be a villain."

"I wouldn't be one if I couldn't handle it." Gene retorted.

"Gene," he explained, "I know how…you lost everything."

Gene face relaxed a bit, he crossed his arms and chuckled, "You know nothing of me Stark. Nothing." he said reassuringly.

Howard sighed and walked out of the room, disappointed in his efforts to soften the Kahn.

Gene returned to his painting. Pepper's bright smile illuminated his vision. He still had to draw the freckles, but she was stunning nonetheless.


	7. Pepper: A Family's Past

Pepper was growing worse and worse through the weeks progression. She had just gotten through with the shopping, putting up the groceries, and washing the dishes. She was in her room now, sitting on the edge of her bed: thinking. She glanced over to her desk. A picture of her mother was tacked to her cork board. It was a magazine cutout. She had been a model, well at least that was what everyone thought. It was her cover job. Her real job was a "secret agent spy thing" as Pepper liked to refer to it when she was younger. It was only logical for her mom to be an agent for the FBI considering that her father was a police officer. She loved her mother as her mother had loved her. To this day she didn't know how her mother found time for her with all the busyness that comes with her occupation. Still; they were one happy family. That is...until her mother passed away.

Pepper was five, her mother had been killed in a mission. She didn't know at the time but her mother was gone. She would never see her again. She would never play "I scream for Ice Cream" (A card game) on the carpet with her family. All she knew was that her daddy was sad, she could hear him crying. The telephone was always ringing. People were always saying they were sorry. She would ask where her mother was, only to be patted on the head in a reassuring matter. One day her father made her wear a dark dress, he was wearing a suit. He picked her up placing her on his hip instead of his shoulders. He sat her in her car seat, and began to drive. They arrived in a meadow. People were everywhere all dressed in fancy dull colored clothing a lot like what she was wearing. An old man began talking in front of a weird wooden box. Her father stood in front of it and spoke, trying to keep calm. After a few minutes someone asked Pepper if she wanted to speak. The 5-year old nodded slowly and made her way to the front of the crowd.

"Where's my mommy?" she demanded quietly.

Everyone glanced at her father incredulously like, "You haven't told her?"

He sighed, walking up to the podium, picking the little girl up to his hip, and walked far across the meadow before he sat her down and spoke, "Hey princess," he sat down next to her, "How are you feeling?"

"Good, daddy..." she paused, "Where's mommy? I want mommy."

"She…" his voice was cut off by a sudden choke before he continued, "Mommy's gone."

"Gone where?" Pepper asked, clearly not getting the message.

"To…heaven…" his face filled with sadness.

Pepper understood.

"Daddy?" Pepper started.

"Yes?"

"Can I stay in the car 'til we leave?"

"Yes."

Tears poured out of Pepper's eyes as she lay on the car seat. Her mother was gone. How would she survive?


	8. Tony: Those HeartBreaking Words

Tony slowly picked up his cell phone. He had an _**amazing **_nap, but nothing could prepare him for this. It had been the third date he'd missed, but it felt like the 20th. He felt immensely guilty about leaving her alone, and wondered how she could put up with him. He slowly dialed her number, her speed dial appeared but he decided not to click OK, considering he wasn't ready to spurt out excuses and the like. The rings were just about killing him. She picked up, "Hello?"

"Hey Whitney."

"Oh, hey Tony."

"I'm…I'm…sorry."

"Save it Tony," Whitney sounded upset (Who could blame her?), "We're through."


	9. Rhodey: Not My Problem

Rhodey was looking at his yearbook. He laughed at Tony's photo, he had been persistent for a "fish-face" photo. He looked to his picture, and smiled approvingly. This year had been just fine, just fine. He glanced at Pepper's photo. She had grown her hair out _**LONG **_this year, and her freckles were almost completely gone. She was breathtaking this year._ 'Gene's missing out.'_ Rhodey thought, amused. Gene: A back-stabbing creep. He returned his attention to the yearbook. He always like to look at the last person in the yearbook. He flipped to the last page. Whitney Stane, He could almost feel his heartbeat pump faster. He remembered he had drooled over her once. _"Hey Rhodey, you're _drooling_."_ Tony had mused. He could've added an Oo-la-la there. It was true he had the tiniest crush on Whitney, but Tony and Whitney were an item now. His best friend: but it wasn't his fault or anything. Since Tony had never brought it up, and he never felt the need to express it: he remained silent about it. It was horrible to see Tony leave her alone every time like that, but he brushed it off. _'It isn't my problem.'_ What he didn't realize was that it was slowly tearing him apart.


	10. Whitney: What Just Happened

She couldn't believe this. "I just broke up with the boy of my dreams." she whispered quietly. She glanced to a picture of them at the mall: sharing a smoothie. She got up, heels clicking on the floor as she made her way to her desk. The force of her fingers pushed the picture face-down to the wood. "I need to replace this photo." she stated bluntly to herself. "Hello Whitney." Obadiah Stane was in the doorway.

"Hey Daddy." she said bitterly.

"Someone's at the door for you." He said, annoyed to be pulled away from some very important work.

"'Kay…I'll be down in a minute." she replied.

He walked away silently. Whitney pulled her hair back, she threw on a sweater, a pair of jeans, and flicked off her heels. She padded down the stairs in socks wondering who it could be. She slid to the door to greet a wet guest. She swung the door open to find- "Pepper?"


	11. Happy: A Strange Phone Call

"Happy?" a woman's voice called.

"Yeah, Ma?" he yelled back.

"Your dinner's getting cold!" she screamed back up the stairs, "Would it kill you to stop your video games and cook with mama for once?"

"I'll be down in a minute." he replied dancing around the question.

His mother shook her head in disapproval. _"That boy is going to be trouble someday…" _she thought to herself.

Happy got up slowly making his way to the door to eat dinner when his phone rang.

He ran to it hoping that it was Pepper. The glowing text read: Gene Kahn.


	12. Gene: A Shock of Sorrow

"Happy?" Gene asked.

"The- Kahn! What happened to you?" he asked happily.

"Um…I had to move suddenly. I was just wondering how everyone is doing."

"Oh, um good! Why don't you just call them though?"

"Cause…I wanted your perspective on things." he lied through gritted teeth.

"Oh yeah, everyone's good! Tony's dating Whitney so they must be happy…Rhodes is still Tony's best bud…"

"And Pepper?" he asked gulping down his worst fears, "How's Pepper?"

"Oh yeah, she's real good!-" Happy chuckled. Gene smiled secretly. Then frowned, he should never bring himself false hope.

"-Pepper and I are sort of an item." Happy laughed. Gene's phone almost hit the floor. "Gene?"

"Yeah?"

"You okay?"

"You and Pepper…are…going out?"

"Yeah! Isn't it great?" Happy excitedly asked. But his only reply was a set of "connection lost" beeps.

Gene fell back into a soft recliner. His hands covered his face, obscuring his confined tears from anyone's view.


	13. Pepper: A New Friend

Pepper laughed as she browsed thru a section of funny pictures on . She had brought her laptop when she had come to Whitney's house. They were in her room now.

"Pepper?" Whitney asked confused.

"Hmm?"

"Why are you here, I'm pretty sure we hate each other." She frowned.

"Why is that?" Pepper said, "That's one of the reasons that I came to talk to you…Usually if I suck up my pride and apologize for what I've done, it makes a great friendship." she smiled, "I'm sorry, I know we've had our disagreements, but I just realized how awesome of a friend you could be if we made up."

Whitney was shocked. Tony was her only friend before, and now that they broke up, it would be nice to have another. Pepper _**was **_apologizing, and she did seem really nice once you got to know her.

"I'm sorry too," Whitney sighed looking down, she then smiled and lifted her chin back up "I think another friend sounds really nice."

"Yay!" Pepper squealed, "I've always had male friends, and sometimes they can be…well…" She scratched her head, "Geez, I don't know _**how**_ to explain it." she laughed.

Whitney understood what she meant, sometimes you just needed girl time. And neither of them had gotten that time since their mothers had both passed away.

"I know what you mean." Whitney chuckled, "I say we have a sleepover tonight, then we go window shopping tomorrow, eh?"

"That sounds fun!" Pepper smiled, "I've never been shopping before."


	14. Tony: Restricted

Tony sighed, he had seen it coming. He had been a jerk: blowing off dates to save the world. He had a valid reason, but in his eyes right now it seemed stupid. He plunged his forehead into his pillow only to hear the default ringtone on the device in his hands go off. He glanced at the glowing screen with bitter eyes: "Restricted Number". His bitterness transformed into intrigue; who could possibly be calling him as a time like this? (2:30 AM to be exact.) On impulse, he pressed the circle in the center of the screen and placed the receiver to his ear, "Hello?"

"It's been a while…" a deep, masked voice temporized on a crackling line, "Tony."

Tony's brow furrowed as he interrogated the enigmatic personage, "Who is this and how did you get this number?"

"The question isn't about who I am: it's about who you are. A little bird told me that you're a bit… broken-hearted. " the voice chuckled.

"What—?" Tony gaped.

"It's alright," the voice reassured him, "I can be a friend if you so choose. That is, to say, that you do what I ask."

Tony, now alert and interested, spoke intently, "What do you want?"

"It's simple of course. Put on that suit of yours and make your way towards these coordinates."

"What coord-" just as he uttered the question a mini toy helicopter hovered through Tony's ajar window and dropped a clear tube with a rolled-up slip of notebook paper inside it on his desk.

"Everything will be explained to you: I expect you in 3 days time." The voice seemed to smirk on the other side, "See you there."


	15. Rhodey: Resentment

Laughter bounced off the walls in his bedroom; never before had he had this much time on his hands. When he had told Tony to get some sleep the only response he had gotten was a small grunt of surrender before he disappeared. Therefore he had no orders, which resulted in free time! He had gotten a bit bored with the facsimile faces that surfaced the pages of his yearbook so now he was watching, "Emerson - Mommy's Nose is Scary!"

"Yes," he admitted to himself, "This is so unmanly." But in his defense it was a viral video and babies are, well simply put, very cute.

Just as Rhodey was about to click on another video his phone vibrated and whined with a new call. He picked up the phone with a sigh and a frown, "Tony can't be doing this to me."

"Tony, what happened that nap that we talked about?"

"Hey Rhodes." Said a smug voice.

"Gene?" Rhodey frowned with disbelief: it couldn't be.

"Listen—"

Rhodey's resentment blasted through his mouth, "Why would I listen to you?"

"Rhodey: I hate to have to ask _you_ but I…I need help." Gene paused but quickly injected, "If you help me, I'll return Howard Stark to Tony in person."

_Wow. He's so desperate that he's willing to bring Tony's dad back in exchange for _my_ help. What could possibly call for such drastic measures? Anyways…what can I do now? If I say no Tony would never forgive me. But…_

"How can I be so sure that you'll keep your promise?"

There was a long pause, "I don't know." Gene said dispiritedly, "I guess you'll just have to trust me."

That wasn't good enough, but it was worth looking into.

"I'll call you back. Give me 10 minutes."


End file.
